More than half of products in the consumer basket became more expensive

ORANJESTAD — More than half of the products and services monitored by CBS to measure the cost of living in Aruba recorded price increases over the past 12 months.

According to the Consumer Price Index report for August 2026, 54.9% of the products in the consumer basket became more expensive compared with August 2025. The figure shows that price increases are not concentrated in just one or two categories, but are spread across a broad part of everyday consumption.

During the same period, the overall CPI rose by 2.7%. Transportation was one of the main factors, with an annual increase of 10.7%, followed by restaurants and hotels at 5.6%, miscellaneous goods and services at 4.0%, and food and non-alcoholic beverages at 3.8%.

CBS figures also show that prices of goods were 3.7% higher than a year earlier, while services recorded an annual increase of 1.4%.

The figures confirm that pressure on the cost of living is being felt across different parts of the budget of Aruban consumers.